Deciding to make your Last Will and Testament is just one step in the process – there are many decisions to be made and one of the most important is appointing executors.

An executor is someone named in a will, or appointed by the court, who is given the legal responsibility to take care of a deceased person’s remaining financial obligations. This means taking care of everything from disposing of property to paying bills and taxes. Most executors are immediate family members, with spouses, children and parents being the most common executors

Executors, as part of winding down an estate, will often perform the following functions, with the money to perform these duties comes from the estate itself: Distributing assets according to the will, maintaining property until the estate is settled (e.g. upkeep of a house,) paying bills for the estate, paying taxes on the estate, making court appearances for the estate and keeping estate accounts.

Once you accept the job of executor you have it for life. So as an example if HMRC have questions some years later the executor still has to deal with the matter.

If an executor feels they are not able to deal with the estate they can choose to appoint a professional to act instead.

When someone dies who has left a will with a trust in it, it is extremely important that the executors do apply for probate and do set up the trust. For example, complications can follow if the survivor of a couple needs care and the trust hasn’t been set up then all the deceased estate can be taken for care costs which was not the intention.

We are available to give more bespoke advice to you about the issue of executors – just get in touch.

It may sound like an obvious question – of course storing a document as important as your Last Will and Testament in a safe place is common sense but many people will still just have their will in their filing cabinet at home or in a drawer.

Having your will stored by a professional in a safe (we offer this service) provides peace of mind and ease of accessibility for the named Executors when the time comes.

However another reason that is likely to be not on your radar is the increase in Probate fraud. A recent report by the Society for Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) has stated that probate fraud is predicted to be in the region of £150 million! This is £100 million in excess of previous estimated figures. Quite a frightening thought.

Not all bereavements are surrounded by mourning and love. Some individuals see the death of a loved one as an opportunity to take advantage of the intended beneficiaries. This can occur after death or when a person is close to death, by committing fraud resulting in an individual obtaining assets, cash and personal possessions that they are not entitled to.

Of course these cases are a minority but with alarming frequency cases are being brought to court, so please ensure your Will is safeguarded.

APS Wills Buckinghamshire is five years young this month! What a five years it’s been! I wanted to share some of my highlights with you.

Firstly, it’s quite amazing to put this into black and white but in the past five years I have worked with over 700 clients! No, I haven’t added an extra zero on by accident – 700 clients!! I am so proud of this and I hope it shows you how much experience I can draw on! Most of my work comes from referrals and during the past five years I’ve worked with many people who are related so I end up getting to know whole families. This is just lovely and adds a real personal dimension to the work I do.

Some of my very sensible clients have called me back to review and update their wills and it is always nice to see how the children have grown or that they have moved on to bigger and better properties. Reviews are more important now than ever as the law on Inheritance Tax changed in April 2017 (read my blog for more information)

Continuing professional development is part and parcel of my role of course but I have studied and am now able to offer a probate service.

The way probate works is that Assured Probate Services can take over the probate work if executors do not wish to do it. Or if someone has died without a will then we can apply for letter of administration to wind up the estate and distribute the assets.

I visit families and get details of what estate consists of then I am able to send over a fixed price fee quote and if accepted then I visit again to collect all the relevant documents.

It is very sad when I hear that a client has passed away but I know families get some comfort in the legal side of things being smooth sailing – stress over a will is not welcome at all! One testimonial that has stayed with me is when a client’s will passed through probate so easily that the daughter then appointed me, she said she was so impressed with the professional will her parents had had.

A lovely piece of feedback from someone going through a very difficult time personally – I always offer a very gentle and thoughtful service to all of my clients.

I have been lucky enough to see my own family expand in the past five years – I am now a proud Grandmother to seven grandchildren, all born in the last four years! This serves as a reminder that a great deal of change can occur in a short amount of time and that we should reflect these changes in our Wills.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and here’s to the next five years!

You may be aware that I visit clients in their own home to guide them to write their wills but do you know that I can also do Probate work?

Probate is needed for anyone who has died and left a will and for those who haven’t left a will then the probate court has to be approached for Letters of Administration.

A grant of probate is the official piece of paper that allows the named executors to gather in the deceased’s assets and distribute them according to the will.

People often name members of their family to be the executors but it can be hard work especially if you have no knowledge of the proceedings.

If you are named as an executor and do not wish to take the role you can pass this to a professional, which is quite often the reason I see families for our probate service. You may not know how to carry out the executor role, you may not have the time or you may be feeling too bereft to be able to cope with it.

I can also get involved if someone has died with out leaving a will. In this case Letters of Administration are applied for so that the estate is wound up.

The way the service works is that I meet the family and get the details of what the deceased’s estate consists of. It could be very simple with a property and bank accounts or more complex if they are a business owner or assets held overseas.

After that visit I provide a fixed price fee quote and the family can then decide whether to accept the fee or not.

If they accept the quote then I visit again to collect in all the relevant papers and these are submitted to my head office probate department. I do not do the actual probate work, this is handled by the trained professionals and I am the liaison between clients and head office.

To obtain the grant of probate and wind up someone’s estate is a long process and can take many months and sometimes more than a year.

The fee for the service is taken from the deceased’s estate so no one has to find this upfront.

If you would like to discuss an individual case please contact me.

My aim as always is to give families peace of mind in a friendly professional way.

One tip – if you advertise the death in the local paper and the London Gazette it is considered that the executor has discharged their responsibility to contact any creditors

Last year, approximately 70% of the people who died in the UK did not leave a Will, potentially reducing the value of their families’ inheritance, and causing untold stress, problems and additional costs.

Making a Will does not need to be stressful, time consuming or expensive.

Not making a Will can leave your family feeling stressed, with endless meetings and needless expenses.

In fact, one client recently said of working with me:

“Susan made the process seem relatively simple and painless.”

Still not convinced? Read on:

Without a Will your spouse may not inherit everything, and may be left to cope with the distress and delays of intestacy. If anything happened to you both, the guardianship of your children would be out of your hands.

Unless you write a Will to structure your assets appropriately, children from previous relationships may never inherit as you intended.

If you are not married and you die without a will the law will treat you as though you are single, and your partner would receive nothing. You may also be liable for inheritance tax.

If you are separated and die without a Will, you may unintentionally leave your property and all your assets to an estranged spouse or partner.

Without a Will, guardianship of children under 18 may be unclear, leaving the courts to decide on their welfare.

Don’t put off making a will – call me today and make an appointment – I can come to your home or place of work.

According to the World Health Organisation between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double from 12% to 22%. By 2020, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than 5 years.

In addition to this the Alzheimer’s Society states that there are 850,000 people in the UK with dementia, this translates to 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 suffering from the disease.

There are also over 40,000 people in the UK under 65 with dementia.

With numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2025 and 2 million by 2051, it is essential to start planning and having conversations with family members early.

Encouraging parents or loved ones to set out clearly what they would like to happen in the event they lose capacity and making the necessary arrangements can save time, costs and a lot of worry further down the line.

With an ever-aging population the risks that a parent or loved one will eventually lose mental capacity are increased. In such circumstances, someone else – usually a family member will need to make decisions on their behalf.

A lasting power of attorney is a way of giving someone legal authority to make decisions on behalf of another person if they lack mental capacity at some time in the future, or no longer wish to make decisions for themselves. A person must have mental capacity to set up an LPA.

I can help you with what might feel like a daunting process. If you would like to book a consultation please email me on susan.barnes@aps-associate.co.uk or call 07543 033953

I am having a busy time right now and unfortunately several of my clients need my services due to the fact that they are terminally ill. They are either needing to write a will for the first time or updating an existing one to reflect their latest wishes.

Do you have a will that needs updating? Please arrange to get this changed now rather than having to do something in a rush.

You may be aware that the rules on inheritance tax are changing next year and if you or someone you know has a will written before October 2007 then it could be out of date and need updating to ensure you do not miss out on the increased benefits of the inheritance tax allowances. These new allowances come into force next April.

So get ahead of the crowd and let me review your existing will for you now. Giving you peace of mind is my piece of cake.